Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) is set to bring the game of cricket to the heart of Brisbane Airport’s (BNE) International Terminal on November 22, with former international superstars Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz making guest appearances to stage a world first cricket match inside an airport terminal. The match will be streamed live on Brett Lee’s own Facebook page to a global audience. The former Australian cricket players will captain two teams consisting of senior representatives from the India and Australia travel industries, in a twenty-over indoor exhibition style cricket match as part of Tourism Events Queensland’s ‘Queensland on Stage India’ event for 2018. Gert-Jan de Graaff, Chief Executive Officer, BAC, said it is an exciting world-first event that not only highlights the great mateship and friendly rivalry between Australia and India but also provides a unique opportunity to strengthen and celebrate tourism between the two nations. “India and Australia share a love of family, travel and cricket, so we thought we’d take the opportunity to celebrate these shared values with a bit of fun, whilst also showcasing Brisbane as an aspirational travel destination offering a wide range of experiences for Indian visitors. India is one of the world’s fastest growing outbound travel markets with more than 300,000 Indians visiting Australia last year and more than 33,000 of those visiting Brisbane, which was a 36 per cent increase on the previous year,” he said. “Being able to showcase Brisbane Airport as the gateway to Queensland and Australia will allow existing and new airline partners to reinforce the importance of this growing market. With rising travel demand, and our business and trade relationship showing further growth, BAC is very interested in …

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has launched the second wave of its ‘Passion Made Possible’ brand campaign in India with an evening of fun and entertainment for the travel trade, media and influencers – focusing on the Socialiser tribe offerings available in Singapore. Held at Verbena Brewpub & Skygarden in Kamala Mills, the event featured performances by Singapore’s noted artistes – Wayne Liu aka DJ KoFlow, the turntablist icon and Yung Raja who mixes his lyrics in both English and Tamil. The STB launched the new brand identity ‘Passion Made Possible’ in August 2017 to showcase the destination’s unique attitude and mindset- a passion-driven, never-settling spirit of determination and enterprise that constantly pursues possibilities and reinvention. As part of this, the STB introduced the concept of passion tribes and unveiled four specific tribes, namely Foodies, Collectors, Explorers and Progressors. For its second wave, the campaign will shine spotlight on the Socialiser, Action Seeker, and Culture Shaper passion tribes for encouraging Indian travellers to indulge in their passions in Singapore. Speaking at the launch, GB Srithar, Regional Director, South Asia, Middle East & Africa, highlighted the importance of why the Socialiser tribe would be appealing to Indian consumers, “We are keen to engage the young and fun-loving Indian travellers. Show them a different side of Singapore, in addition to being a great family destination. From the coolest indie gigs and the biggest international concerts to eclectic music festivals, raves and jazz nights, Singapore has a diverse and vibrant music and event scene. This will appeal to the lifestyle- and entertainment-seeking travellers. As we launch wave 2 of our brand, we invite our Indian visitors to come, make new friends or re-connect …

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha have launched an upgraded version of AirSewa web portal and mobile app. The Ministry of Civil Aviation had earlier launched AirSewa web portal and mobile app in 2016 to address issues like flight delays, problem in refunds, long queues, inadequate facilities at airports and complaints of lost baggage by air passengers. Speaking during the launch, Prabhu said, “I would like to congratulate all the stakeholders for the launch of upgraded web portal and app of Air sewa. In a matter of few more months, we’ll be launching another upgrade for the same.” Sinha said, “AirSewa 2.0 upgrade came after two years of initial launch. And, I would like to thank and support all the stakeholders in the ecosystem as this wouldn’t have been possible without the support.” The upgraded and improved version of AirSewa operates through an interactive web portal as well as through a mobile app for both android and iOS platforms, and will offer people a convenient and hassle-free air travel experience. With around 30,00 app downloads and 75,000 web portal hits, AirSewa 1.0 was received well and helped significant number of air passengers to get their concerns resolved. The ministry felt the need for development of an upgraded version of AirSewa to provide a superior user experience with enhanced functionalities including features like secure sign-up and login with social media, chatbot for travellers’ support, improved grievance mangement, including social media grievances, real-time flight status and detailed flight schedule.

The Ultimate Travelling Camp (TUTC) has introduced its new luxury camp ‘Sangam Niwas’ for the Kumbh Mela 2019 scheduled to take place in Allahabad from January 10 to March 06 . Specially curated for the discerning traveller, TUTC’s latest offering aims to provide the quintessential essence of the Kumbh Mela to seekers of spirituality. Positioned at the highest point of the Kumbh Mela, Sangam Niwas is located on a hillock overlooking the Sangam and offers the perfect vantage point for guests to soak in the atmosphere and experience the largest spiritual congregation in the world. Sharing more details at a press conference, Rajnish Sabharwal, Chief Operating Officer (COO), TUTC said that the company is setting up 44 glamps (glamorous camps) at the mela site. “Sangam Niwas offers a perfect opportunity to closely experience Kumbh Mela in Allahabad. Our camps offer exceptional services such as unlimited WiFi at the Reception Tent, 24/7 security and paramedic on site, 24/7 electricity, the library at Reception Tent, Wellness Center for rejuvenation and temple for the evening ‘aartis’,” he said.

Yogendra Tripathy, Chairman and Managing Director, Food Corporation of India (FCI), has been appointed as Secretary—Tourism, Government of India, on retirement of Rashmi Verma at the end of November, according to recent appointments of senior officials by the government. Tripathy has been associated with FCI since July 30, 2015. He is a 1985 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre.

The direct contribution of travel and tourism sector — which reflects the net value of output generated by hotels, airlines, travel agents, other passenger transportation services (excluding commuter services), and restaurants and leisure industries directly supported by tourists — was expected to rise 6.9 per cent YoY in 2017, suggests a FICCI-KPMG report. This accounts for 3.3 per cent of the country’s GDP, and is expected to form 3.5 per cent of it by 2027. In accordance with its GDP contribution, the sector contributes significantly to job creation. The sector directly accounts for 5.8 per cent of the total employment in India. Further, the Indian travel and tourism sector is expected to have attracted capital investment of Rs 2,387.7 billion (USD35.2 billion) in 2017 — accounting for 5.7 per cent of the total national investment.

Indian travellers are avid users of sharing economy apps and services compared to other APAC travellers, reveals ‘Amadeus Journey of Me’ report. According to the report, Indian travellers are embracing these services with 73 per cent using apps like Uber, Grab, Lyft, Ola, Didi Chuxing etc to get around during me trip, compared to only 37 per cent in the rest of APAC. Apart from it, almost half (48 per cent) use Airbnb, couch surfing for stays, more than the 29 per cent APAC average. The research, Journey of Me Insights: What Asia Pacific travellers want has been conducted in collaboration with YouGov.

India’s airlines are expected to induct an unprecedented 124-130 aircraft in FY2018/2019, with IndiGo accounting for close to half of this number, according to CAPA estimates on South Asia Aviation Outlook 2018. All Indian LCCs, except AirAsia India, are profitable, and are expected to report a combined profit of USD450 million to USD500 million. In contrast, FSCs are projected to lose USD825 million to USD850 million, although most of this is accounted for by Air India. Vistara is also loss making, while Jet Airways will either report a modest profit or be closer to break even. In 2018, Jet Airways is expected to place an additional order for 75 narrowbodies and to make a decision on its wide body plans, including the 10 787s on order that it has repeatedly deferred. Vistara will likely order 50 narrowbodies, together with a modest initial order for less than 10 widebodies, which may increase later. IndiGo and SpiceJet could place orders to support international expansion, including widebodies, and we do not rule out the possibility of a turboprop order by GoAir. Air India’s fleet plans are currently on hold pending its proposed privatisation.

Union Tourism Secretary Rashmi Verma has rolled out the Incredible India Tourist Facilitator Certification (IITFC) Programme in Delhi. Participants will now be able to register for this programme through an online digital platform. IITFC will enable Indian citizens to develop and enhance the skills associated with tourism, and where one can incorporate knowledge about facilitating tourists across the country. Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons had earlier launched the IITFC on the occasion of World Tourism Day. The certification programme comprises basic and advanced self-paced courses designed in a manner that users can learn at their own time, space, path and pace. The course kicks off with a basic introductory module alongside the registration process. This will be followed by payment initiation on November 19, where any 10+2 pass-out candidate can enroll in the basic course comprising seven modules aimed at training the facilitators for knowledge, skills and attitude domains at a nominal charge of Rs 2000. Successful completion of this programme would enable the learner to become a Certified Tourist Facilitator of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. A refresher course is also proposed for launch in due time for those already in the field seeking at an advanced level course to enhance their skill set. Speaking on the occasion, Verma said that the concept of ‘tourist guide’ has changed world over and the new-age tourist facilitators are ‘story tellers’. She added that this online programme will have lots of advantages like job creation for local people, harness the local experience and traditional knowledge.

In an attempt to bring  all organisations and individuals engaged in the rural tourism space under one umbrella, the Association for Rural Tourism in India (ARTI) has been unveiled during the International Conference on Rural Tourism Development held at Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi. Satyajeet Rajan, Founding Member and Director General (Tourism), Government of India, launched the association amidst stalwarts and pioneers of rural tourism world over. On the occasion, Steve Borgia, Founding member and CMD, INDeco Hotels said that ARTI will unite all hoteliers, NGOs and individuals working in the space of rural tourism. “As a task long due, this association is not only meant to hand-hold the tourism initiative, but also share and sustain the efforts. It is also now very important  that we influence our governments at both the centre and the state along with NGOs to use rural tourism as a tool to mend the ailing backbone of our villages,” he said. Other founding members present at the occasion include SK Misra, Chairman, Indian Trust for Rural Heritage and Development and Former Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India; Sujit Banarjee, Secretary General, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC); MP Bezbaruah, Former Secretary, Ministry for Tourism and Honorary Permanent Representative, UNWTO; Jose Dominic ,CEO, CGH Earth Group; Supratim Raj Basu, Founder & Director, Help Tourism.